Sarazi language
{{short description|Language spoken in the Saraz region of Jammu, India}}
{{ Infobox language
| name = Sarazi
| nativename = {{hlist|{{nastaliq|سرازی}}|सराज़ी}}
| image = سرازی.svg
|states = Jammu & Kashmir, India
|region = Saraz
|speakers =
|date =
|ref=
|ethnicity= Sarazis
|familycolor = Indo-European
|fam2 = Indo-Iranian
|fam3 = Indo-Aryan
|fam4 = Northern
|fam5 = Western Pahari
|iso3 = none
|iso3comment =
|glotto = sira1264
|glottorefname = Siraji of Doda
}}
Sarazi or Sirazi (also spelled Siraji) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Saraz region of the Jammu division of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is native to the Saraz region, a hilly area taking up the northern half of Doda district and parts of neighbouring Ramban and Kishtwar districts.{{sfn|Ashiqehind|2018}}
Sarazi is spoken as a first language by {{sigfig|46302|2}} people (as of 2001),{{sfn|Ashiqehind|2018}} primarily Hindus, but it is also used as a lingua franca of the Saraz region and so is also spoken as a second language by Muslims, who are native speakers of Kashmiri.{{harvnb|Mahajan|2018}}; {{harvnb|Ashiqehind|2018}}. Some Muslim communities are speakers of Gojri or Watali.
Sarazi has similarities to the neighbouring Western Pahari languages like Bhaderwahi, though it is nowadays most often classified with the latter. Various local names for the language, which may represent distinct dialects, include Bhagwali, Deswali, and Korarwali.{{sfn|Parihar|Dwivedi|2019|p=4}}
Sarazi is not often used in writing, but when written, the default choice for a script falls on Perso-Arabic. The Latin script is also common, whereas Devanagari and the historical Takri script are encountered occasionally.{{sfn|Ashiqehind|2018}}
Classification
In the early 20th century, G.A. Grierson observed the similarities with both Kashmiri and with Western Pahari languages, and while noting that Sarazi can almost equally well be classified with either of the two, nonetheless opted to treat it as a dialect of Kashmiri on the basis of shared features in the verbal paradigm and elsewhere.{{sfn|Grierson|1919|p=433}}
Although Sarazi is still sometimes perceived as a Kashmiri dialect,{{harvnb|Wali|Koul|1996|p=xii}}; a recent example is in {{harvnb|Bhat|Niaz|2014|p=292}}. recent studies have generally placed it as a member of the Western Pahari group.{{harvnb|Kaul|2006|pp=158–166}}; {{harvnb|Ashiqehind|2018}}, "Sarazi should be classed as a Western Pahari language. It would still make a very aberrant member of the group." This further corresponds with the speakers' own perceptions, who do not see their language as related to Kashmiri,{{sfn|Mahajan|2018}} and who consider themselves Pahari rather than Kashmiri.{{sfn|Kaul|2006|p=163}}
An alternative proposal has seen the language as intermediate between the two groups but independent of either.This is the proposal by {{harvtxt|Varma|1939|pp=88–89}}, according to whom the characteristics of Dardic and Pahari "have so deeply penetrated the grammatical structure of the dialect that it must be called as fundamentally Dardo-Pahāṛī". This was criticised by {{harvtxt|Kaul|2006}}. It has also been conjectured that the language could have originally arisen as a creole.{{sfn|Koul|Schmidt|1983|p=10}}
Notable events
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his visit to Saraz region also conversed in Sarazi with regional population.
His words were "ku haal cho?"
which translates to "how are you?" in English.
A daily news headlines program is broadcast by a news outlet The Chenab Times in the Sarazi and Bhadarwahi languages to promote them.{{Cite news |title=Cultural Academy Doda non-functional since long|url=http://www.earlytimes.in/m/newsdet.aspx?q=321562|date=18 August 2021|publisher=Early Times (newspaper)|access-date=19 August 2021}}{{Cite news|title=چناب ٹائمز' کا وفد ڈپٹی کمشنر ڈوڈہ سے ملاقی|url=https://www.kashmiruzma.net/NewsDetail?action=view&ID=91493|date=7 August 2021|publisher=Greater Kashmir|language=ur}}{{Dead link|date=June 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
See also
- Farid Ahmed Naik, first Sarazi language news reporter
References
{{reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{cite encyclopedia| last = Ashiqehind | first = Vikalp| year = 2018| chapter = Sarazi: Endangered Language of the Chenab Valley| title = Sahapedia| chapter-url = https://www.sahapedia.org/sarazi-endangered-language-of-the-chenab-valley}}
- {{cite book| last1 = Bhat| first1 = Shabir Ahmad| last2 = Niaz| first2 = Sahar| chapter = Siraji| date = 2014| editor-last1 = Devy| editor-first1 = G. N.| editor-last2 = Koul| editor-first2 = Omkar N.| title = The Languages of Jammu & Kashmir| series = People's linguistic survey of India| volume = 12| publisher = Orient Blackswan| location = New Delhi| isbn = 978-81-250-5516-7| pages = 291–302}}
- {{cite LSI|8|2|pp=432–57}}
- {{cite book| last = Kaul| first = Pritam Krishen| year = 2006| title = Pahāṛi and Other Tribal Dialects of Jammu| volume = 1| place = Delhi| publisher = Eastern Book Linkers| isbn = 8178541017}}
- {{cite book| last1 = Koul| first1 = Omkar N.| last2= Schmidt| first2 = Ruth Laila| year = 1983| title = Kashmiri : a sociolinguistic survey| publisher = Indian Institute of Language Studies| location = Patiala}}
- {{cite encyclopedia| last = Mahajan | first = Chakraverti| year = 2018| chapter = Saraz and Sarazi: Situating a Language and Linguistic Zone in Jammu and Kashmir| title = Sahapedia| chapter-url = https://www.sahapedia.org/saraz-and-sarazi-situating-language-and-linguistic-zone-jammu-and-kashmir}}
- {{cite book| last1 = Parihar| first1 = Ravi| last2 = Dwivedi| first2 = Amitabh Vikram| date = 2019| title = A grammar of Sarazi| series = Languages of the world. Materials| publisher = Lincom GmbH| location = Muenchen| isbn = 978-3-86288-982-2}}
- {{cite journal|last = Varma| first = Siddeshwar| year = 1939| title = Indian Dialects in Phonetic Transcription. I: Dardo-Pahāṛi| pages = 88–97| journal = Indian Linguistics| volume = 7| number = 2}}
- {{cite book|last1 = Wali| first1 = Kashi| last2 = Koul| first2 = Omkar N.| year = 1996| title = Kashmiri : a cognitive-descriptive grammar| place = New York| publisher = Routledge| isbn = 0-415-05868-6}}
{{Indo-Aryan languages}}
Category:Languages of Jammu and Kashmir